ESG explained · the pillars
The ESG pillars: three for topics, four for reporting
The three ESG pillars — environmental, social and governance — sort sustainability topics into groups, as the 2004 report Who Cares Wins first set them out.
The four pillars of sustainability reporting — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets — are something else: the structure of the TCFD recommendations and of UK SRS.
This page maps each ESG pillar to the UK duty that asks about it, then shows how the two sets of pillars fit together.
The map
The three ESG pillars, and the UK duty behind each
What each pillar covers, which UK duty asks about it, and where it lands in UK SRS.
| Pillar | Topics | UK duties | In UK SRS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental | Climate, energy, emissions, water, waste, pollution, nature | SECR; ESOS; climate-related financial disclosures | UK SRS S2 (climate); UK SRS S1 for other material topics |
| Social | Employees, pay, health and safety, diversity, supply-chain labour, human rights, communities | Modern slavery statement; gender pay gap; non-financial statement | UK SRS S1, where financially material |
| Governance | Board oversight, ethics and anti-bribery, pay, risk and controls, payment practices | Section 172(1) statement; payment practices; the Code for listed companies | Governance disclosures in both standards |
The three pillars are a way of sorting, not a legal category: no UK instrument uses them as its structure.
The nearest thing is section 414CB(1) of the Companies Act, whose five matters — environmental, employees, social, human rights, anti-corruption and anti-bribery — cover all three.
The meaning of the term is on what is ESG, and every duty’s threshold on ESG reporting requirements UK.
E
Environmental: the most regulated pillar
The environmental pillar covers what a company takes from and puts into the natural world, and the risk that environmental change poses back to it.
It carries more UK duties than the other two pillars together.
SECR puts energy use and emissions into the directors’ report of quoted companies at any size and of large unquoted companies under Schedule 7 Part 7A.
Large undertakings carry out an ESOS energy assessment every four years under the ESOS Regulations.
UK SRS S2 paragraph 29(a) asks for absolute gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions measured on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, and is the UK version of IFRS S2.
The tools that measure them are compared on carbon management software, and the climate standard is explained on UK SRS S2.
| Topic | UK duty or standard |
|---|---|
| Energy use | SECR; ESOS |
| Scope 1 and 2 emissions | SECR; UK SRS S2 |
| Scope 3 emissions | UK SRS S2 (transport fuel only under SECR for unquoted companies) |
| Climate risk and resilience | Climate-related financial disclosures; UK SRS S2 |
| Packaging | Packaging producer data reporting |
| Nature and biodiversity | No UK disclosure duty; TNFD voluntary |
G
Governance: board oversight and accountability
The governance pillar covers how a company is directed and controlled — the structures that make its environmental and social claims credible.
Companies above the medium-sized limits explain in a section 172(1) statement how their directors had regard to employees, suppliers, customers, the community and the environment.
Listed companies follow the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, which has no sustainability reporting requirement but, from 2026, asks the board to declare the effectiveness of its material controls, including those over ESG reporting.
Anti-bribery is governance by conduct: section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 makes failing to prevent bribery an offence, subject to an adequate-procedures defence.
In UK SRS, governance is the first of four core-content areas, and paragraph 27 of UK SRS S1 sets out what a reporting company says about it.
The board’s side is on ESG and sustainability governance.
| UK SRS S1 ¶27 asks about | In practice |
|---|---|
| The body or individual responsible for oversight | Board, committee or named director |
| How responsibilities appear in terms of reference | Committee charters, role descriptions |
| Skills and competencies | Board skills review |
| How and how often they are informed | Reporting cycle to the board |
| Targets, and pay linked to them | Remuneration metrics |
| Management’s role and controls | Delegation and internal controls |
Three vs four
The four pillars of sustainability reporting, and how they differ
The four pillars people search for are not ESG pillars at all.
They are the four recommendations of the TCFD — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets — with eleven recommended disclosures between them.
UK SRS S1 paragraph 25 uses the same four as its core content, and UK SRS S2 repeats them for climate.
So the three ESG pillars say what a report covers, and the four reporting pillars say how each topic is reported.
A company reporting on climate — an environmental topic — answers all four reporting pillars about it; governance appears in both sets, which is why they are confused.
The four are explained in full on the four pillars of sustainability reporting and the UK SRS four pillars; how ESG topics enter UK SRS is on ESG integration under UK SRS.
| Reporting pillar | What it asks | TCFD disclosures |
|---|---|---|
| Governance | Who oversees the risks and opportunities | 2 |
| Strategy | What they mean for the business model and plans | 3 |
| Risk management | How they are identified and managed | 3 |
| Metrics and targets | How performance is measured | 3 |
Frequently asked
ESG pillars: frequently asked
What are the three pillars of ESG?
Environmental (climate, energy, emissions, resources, waste and nature), social (employees, pay, health and safety, supply chains, human rights and communities) and governance (board oversight, ethics and anti-bribery, pay, risk management and controls).
What are the 4 pillars of sustainability reporting?
Governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
They come from the TCFD recommendations of 2017 and now structure IFRS S1 and S2 and UK SRS S1 and S2.
They describe how a report is organised, whereas the three ESG pillars describe which topics it covers.
Which ESG pillar focuses on board oversight and accountability?
Governance.
It covers who on the board is responsible for sustainability risks, how directors are informed and held to account, how pay is linked to targets, and how bribery and corruption are prevented.
Which ESG pillar is most regulated in the UK?
The environmental pillar carries the most specific UK duties: SECR energy and carbon reporting, ESOS energy assessments, the Companies Act climate-related financial disclosures and packaging data reporting.
The social pillar has the modern slavery statement and gender pay gap reporting; the governance pillar has the section 172 statement, payment practices reporting and, for listed companies, the UK Corporate Governance Code.
Are the ESG pillars the same as the TCFD pillars?
No. The three ESG pillars sort topics into environmental, social and governance.
The four TCFD pillars — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets — sort the disclosures about any one topic.
Governance appears in both, which is why the two are often confused.
What are the 3 pillars of sustainability in the UK?
In the ESG sense they are environmental, social and governance.
UK company law names the same ground in section 414CB(1) of the Companies Act: environmental matters, employees, social matters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- The Global Compact (World Bank repository copy)Who Cares Wins, December 2004
The report that grouped environmental, social and governance issues.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7, Part 7A (SECR)
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643 Schedule 1 ¶1 (ESOS)
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CB(1), (2A)
The five non-financial matters and the eight climate-related financial disclosures.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CZA
The section 172(1) statement.
- legislation.gov.ukModern Slavery Act 2015, section 54
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2015/1833, regulation 2
£36m total turnover.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2017/172 (gender pay gap), regulation 1(2)
250 or more employees.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2024/1303, regulation 5(3)
Directors’ report employee and disabled-persons statements omitted from 6 April 2025.
- legislation.gov.ukBribery Act 2010, section 7
- Financial Reporting CouncilUK Corporate Governance Code 2024
Provision 29 from 1 January 2026; no sustainability reporting requirement.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and S2
Published 25 February 2026.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 (PDF), ¶3, ¶25, ¶¶26–27
Financial materiality; the four core-content areas; governance disclosures.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 (PDF), ¶29(a)
Absolute gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures
- GHG ProtocolA Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition)
- TCFDRecommendations of the TCFD, Final Report, June 2017 (Figure 4)
Four recommendations, eleven recommended disclosures.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards
Two years’ relief from UK SRS S1 non-climate disclosures.
Continue reading
S
Social: people, pay and supply chains
The social pillar covers a company’s relationships with people: its workforce, the workers in its supply chain, its customers and the communities it affects.
The Modern Slavery Act asks organisations with £36 million of turnover, set by SI 2015/1833, for a yearly statement on slavery and trafficking in their business and supply chains.
Employers with 250 or more employees publish gender pay gap figures under SI 2017/172.
Traded companies, banks and insurers with more than 500 employees report on employees, social matters and respect for human rights in their non-financial statement.
Under UK SRS S1, a social topic is reported only if it could reasonably be expected to affect the company’s cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital.
Listed companies may defer non-climate UK SRS S1 disclosures for two years under the FCA’s transitional relief; the general standard is covered on UK SRS S1.
For financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025, the directors’ report no longer carries the statements on employing disabled persons or on engagement with employees, suppliers and customers — SI 2024/1303 reg 5(3).